Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program (EURP)

The Importance of High-Quality Patient Care

Now more than ever, it is critical that endoscopy units demonstrate their effectiveness in the delivery of high-quality, safe patient care. In fact, by delivering quality and value to patients, you become part of the healthcare delivery system of the future.

As the only national program of its kind, the ASGE Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program (EURP) honors units that have demonstrated a commitment to delivering quality and safety as reflected in their unit policies, credentialing, staff training and competency assessment, and quality improvement activities. EURP honorees benefit by being among a like-minded community of units from across the country.

What is the ASGE Quality Star?

One of the most powerful tools offered through the EURP is the Quality Star logo. The nationally recognized ASGE Quality Star has been granted to stand-alone ambulatory endoscopy centers, hospital-based endoscopy units, and office-based endoscopy units that have met the program’s rigorous criteria. Units in the program that are actively using the logo have capitalized on the strength of the Quality Star to inform their patients, referring physicians, surveyors, and others about their commitment to the highest standards of quality care.

What is the Impact of the EURP?

On Patient Care

EURP honorees recognize the important role that quality and safety play in providing exceptional and safe healthcare services. Through the EURP, units will not only benchmark physician performance,
but also analyze data for opportunities to improve patient care.

On Your Practice

The EURP is a recognition that your entire unit can celebrate. The program helps raise a unit’s overall awareness of high-quality patient care, and promotes active support for quality and safety improvement among all staff.

Among Your Peers

Your participation in the EURP will help your unit gain recognition among healthcare professionals,
including referring physicians and public and private payers as a unit that is dedicated to quality care.

What Can My Unit Be Recognized For?

Get recognized for the ongoing assessment of quality measures that are critical to high-quality GI endoscopic patient care:

• Patient assessment for procedural risk
• Adequacy of bowel preparation
• Cecal intubation rate
• Adenoma detection rate
• Adverse event tracking
• Use of patient satisfaction surveys

Who is the Program Open To?

The program is open to all settings where GI endoscopy is practiced, including ambulatory endoscopy or surgery centers, office-based endoscopy units, and hospital-based endoscopy units.

Interested in Learning More?

Webinars:

• ASGE Webinar: Why Quality? Why Now? Why EURP? EURP Application Made Easy (recording) (9-21-2016)
• ASGE Webinar: Quality Indicators for Colonoscopy (recording) (3-26-2014) 
• ASGE Webinar: Guidelines for Safety in the Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Unit (recording) (4-29-2014) 

Join ASGE’s prestigious three year recognition program and access a variety of benefits that promote and celebrate high-quality patient care.

Through the endoscopy unit recognition program, your unit can:

• Gain recognition for identifying ways to define and measure quality in endoscopy, as well as improve patient satisfaction.
• Prepare to meet the changing expectations of public and private regulatory bodies.
• Promote improvement and create more uniformity in your practice.
• Fulfill an activity in the Improvement Activities performance category of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

Marketing Tools to Share Your Recognition

• Use of the ASGE Quality Star logo to
  • Display on your website
  • Incorporate into stationery and print ads
  • Include on the EURP template press release when sent to local media
  • Display on promotional banners, tent cards, mugs, and more!
• ASGE Certificate of Recognition of Quality in Endoscopy to proudly display in your office.
• Press release to promote your recognition within your community.
• Your unit’s name posted on the ASGE website list of Certificate of Recognition honorees that provides public and professional recognition.

NEW! EURP Qualifies for MIPS
Gain more from CMS’ new performance category for 2017 of Improvement Activities. The Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program (EURP) qualifies as an activity counting towards the Improvement Activities performance category of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Here’s how your participation in the EURP fulfills an activity included in CMS’ list of 90+ designated improvement activities:

IA_PSPA_19: Implementation of formal quality improvement methods, practice changes or other practice improvement processes

Complimentary ASGE Associate Membership for the nurse manager in your unit for one calendar year during the unit’s three-year recognition. Associate Membership will provide your team member with access to exclusive practice management and quality resources, the ability to network with the online EURP community, as well as valuable member-only discounts.

Registration discounts on quality and practice management courses developed to help you stay current on the changing healthcare delivery landscape and obtain all of the essentials  needed to foster a  high-quality and high-performing practice.

Eligibility Criteria

1. Proof of successful and current accreditation by a recognized accrediting body. Current accreditation must extend for six months beyond the application submission date and units must remain accredited throughout the duration of the three-year recognition. 
   
   
2.  ASGE Membership of at least 50% of the endoscopists practicing within the unit. An additional discount for the program is available for units with 100% participation.
   
   
3. Completion of the ASGE Quality Course, Improving Quality and Safety in Your Endoscopy Unit, by a representative of the unit within one year of the program application. Units are encouraged to send both a physician and a non-physician manager to the course. 
   
   
4. Attestation that the following guidelines are adopted as unit policy:
   • Multi-society guidelines on granting of privileges to perform endoscopic procedures: “Methods of Granting Hospital Privileges to Perform Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.”
   • “Multi-Society Guideline for Reprocessing Flexible Gastrointestinal Endoscopes-2011.”
   • CDC “Guideline for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings 2007.”
     
     
5. Attestation that all pertinent staff members have completed competency assessments for endoscope reprocessing and training in sterile medication administration and infection prevention in the endoscopy unit within the prior year. 
   
   
6. 1. Demonstration that unit policies have been developed and adopted for continuous or intermittent assessment of the following Quality Measures, with associated performance targets for selected measures:
      • Patient risk assessment before sedated procedures – employing ASA score, Mallampati score or another standardized instrument.
      • Quality of preparation during colonoscopy, employing standardized criteria.
      • Cecal intubation rate, per endoscopist during colonoscopy.
      • Adenoma detection rates, per endoscopist during colonoscopy.
      • Adverse event tracking, by major classes and severity for the unit as a whole.
      • Use of Patient Satisfaction surveys by the unit as a whole.
       
   2. Submission of one cycle of data pertaining to the above outcomes measures (≥25 screening/surveillance procedures per endoscopist, or annual).
      
      
   3. Demonstration that improvement plans have been formulated for suboptimal performance
      on selected Quality Measures.
    
7. Submission of summary of a clinical quality improvement project completed by the unit.
   
   
8. Submission of the application fee(s).

Your Peers Share Their QI Projects

The Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program is more than just an honor bestowed by ASGE on successful applicants who have demonstrated their commitment to high-quality, safe patient care. We recognize it as a community that shares its best practices and how each unit translates quality concepts into practice to advance effective clinical care, safe care, and patient-center care. Learn what quality improvement projects your peers have been undertaking in their GI endoscopy units via the samples below. What are some of the questions their projects have been answering?

• Can we achieve a patient wait time of 60 minutes or less from sign in to time out?
• Are our physicians consistently recommending follow-up intervals for repeat colonoscopy due to inadequate bowel prep in alignment with guidelines?
• Is our unit adequately decontaminating surfaces and stretchers to assure that there was no cross contamination with Clostridium difficile?
• Will the introduction of carbon dioxide for GI insufflation increase patient satisfaction?
• Which prep will provide a quality and cost-effective exam for our patients?

Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program Honorees

ASGE would like to applaud all honorees for their commitment to quality and safety in endoscopy as evidenced by meeting the Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program’s rigorous criteria.

EURP continues to grow on a national level as more units understand the important role quality and safety play in building a practice.

To see a list of EURP units in a specific state/U.S. territory, click the link below.

Honoree List February 2020

Learn how units have embraced the valuable opportunity to fulfill and communicate their team’s commitment to the highest standard of quality care through the EURP. 

Examples of Units Actively Using the Quality Star
The ASGE Quality Star is a powerful and trusted symbol of a unit’s commitment to high-quality, safe patient care. Check out how some units have promoted their valuable recognition. 
Click the images below to view some examples of how units have made use of the Quality Star logo.

Manhattan Endoscopy: print advertising – EURP logo displayed alongside their company logo

The Endoscopy Center at Bainbridge, LLC: website advertising – logo used on home page

Great South Bay Endoscopy: website advertising – logo prominently displayed on their About Us page

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why was the Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program developed? 
   The rationale for the Endoscopy Unit Recognition program was two-fold. First, ASGE recognized the need to standardize and promulgate best practices, particularly with regard to infection control, to help its members ensure that the endoscopic services they deliver are the highest in quality and safety. Second, the society also sought to provide a means for gastroenterologists, endoscopists, and the units in which they work to distinguish themselves from lesser-quality services offered in varied environments by many types of practitioners.
   
   
2. To meet the criterion proof of successful and current accreditation by a recognized accrediting body which accreditations does the program recognize? 
   The process of accreditation ensures that many varied issues pertinent to the delivery of quality care have been addressed. Endoscopy units must be accredited, generally by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF), or the Joint Commission. Accreditation by the AAAHC and AAAASF tend to be more frequently sought by ambulatory surgery centers and freestanding units, whereas Joint Commission accreditation is more commonly achieved by hospital-based units, but either accrediting organization can be used. Accreditations from other entities may be considered. Applicants accredited by an organization other than AAAHC, AAAASF, the Joint Commission, or DNV should contact the ASGE national office to discuss their accreditation in relation to the Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program. 
   
   
3. Can I apply to the program as I am registering to take the Improving Quality and Safety in Your Endoscopy Unit course? 
   Yes! You will even benefit from a discounted course registration rate. Units applying to the program are encouraged to send a physician and a non-physician manager to the course. To meet the eligibility criterion, at least one unit representative must attend the course within a year of applying to the program. 
   
   
4. What topics are covered in the Improving Quality and Safety in Your Endoscopy Unit course? 
   Specific presentations deal with:
   • the principles of quality and quality metrics
   • benchmarking and record keeping
   • informed consent and communication
   • efficiency
   • sedation monitoring
   • infection control
   • endoscope reprocessing
   • safe medication practices
   • response to suspected infection
   • training and credentialing in new procedures
   • accreditation
   • design and implementation of a quality assurance program
   • patient satisfaction 
     
     
    
A highly valued aspect of the course has been the use of roundtable discussions and significant question-and-answer sessions for open discussion and interchange of successful practices among the attendees.


5. I am a recognized unit and my three-year recognition period will expire within the year. What steps do I need to take to continue to be a unit recognized by ASGE’s Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program? 
   Approximately one year out from your unit’s recognition expiration date, the ASGE office will contact your unit initiating the renewal process.
   • An email addressed to the medical director listed on the original application will be sent to the unit’s contact email address from the original application (likely the practice manager). 
     
     
Here are a few things to keep in mind and plan for as your unit looks towards renewal:
• Completion of the ASGE course Improving Quality and Safety in Your Endoscopy Unit by at least one representative of the unit within one year prior to application submission is a requirement of new and renewing program participants. Please visit www.asge.org/quality/qualitycourse to learn about upcoming course dates and locations.
• The program criteria may have been revised since your last application so please review all criteria closely and contact the national office with any questions. 
  
  
6. How can learn more about the EURP?
   If you have any questions, e-mail ASGE at eurp@asge.org, or call ASGE at 1-800-573-0600 during normal business hours.

How to Apply to the EURP
Simply follow these steps:

Download and complete the application form.

1. Collect the necessary supporting documentation as specified in the application.
2. Mail the completed form along with the supporting documentation and program fee back to us.

Endoscopy Unit Recognition Program Fees
ASGE offers discounts to those applicants whose entire staff of endoscopists are members of ASGE, or who also participate in the GIQuIC benchmarking registry.

Application Resources

• Sample policies: Pre-procedure; colonoscopy quality; adverse events; organizational performance assessment
• Sample cycle of data
• Sample clinical quality improvement project summary
• Sample colonoscopy quality improvement activities: Adenoma Detection Rate and Bowel Preparation     
• Sample remediation plan
• Sample Patient Satisfaction Survey Tool

Quality Improvement Project Sample Summaries

• QI Project Summary - Adenoma Detection Rate
• QI Project Summary - Adequacy of Bowel Prep
• QI Project Summary - Adequacy of Use of Disinfection Wipes in the Procedure Room
• QI Project Summary - Carbon Dioxide Insufflation